Masters of Horror: Haeckel's Tales is set sometime during the 19th Century where John Ralston (Steve Bacic) has recently lost his wife & has gone to a known Necromancer named Miz Carnation (Micki Maunsell) in an attempt to try & bring her back from the dead, Miz says that he doesn't know what he's asking for & tells him that if he still wants his wife brought back from the dead after she has told him a story then she will oblige. Miz starts her story, it's about a young medical student named Ernst Haeckel (Derek Cecil) who is obsessed with bringing the dead back to life. After his scientific methods fail he approaches a Necromancer called Montesquino (Joe Polato) who claims to have the magical ability to raise the dead, however after accepting a room for the night from one of Montesquino's customer's Haeckel realises there is a horrible price to pay for his services...
This Canadian American co-production was episode 12 from the generally hit-and-miss Masters of Horror TV series, Haeckel's Tale turned out the be the final screened episode after Takashi Miike's Imprint got pulled shortly before it was due to air. Originally to be directed by George A. Romero who strangely still gets a 'In Assaciation with' credit even though I'm not sure in what capacity he worked on it, if any. In the end John McNaughton got the job & he turns in a perfectly watchable Masters of Horror episode, it's not the best this series has to offer but it's far from the worst. The script by the show's regular producer Mick Garris was based on a short story by Clive Barker of the same name & you can definitely see Barker's perverse imagination dotted throughout Haeckel's Tale, sex with the dead, zombies, violence, gore, twisted revelations, good vs evil, the whole creation of life, what it means & various religious themes along with a general messed up approach to things. The storytelling here is quite good & I really liked the tale within a tale narrative & it's rather cool twist ending which I didn't see coming. However it's not all good news, I thought it dragged a little in places & isn't the most exciting of episodes either & around the scenes that obviously came from Barker's twisted imagination it's a tad dull.
Director McNaughton does alright although why was he chosen for a Masters of Horror episode when he had never made a horror film before except maybe Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986) & even that is more of a thriller than horror puzzles me, answers on a postcard please. This has a few stylish moments, I liked the period setting which made it feel like a Hammer film at times & there are some suitably creepy & nasty scenes in it. The gore doesn't really kick in until the final 10 minutes or so, there's a dead cut open body, someone is disembowelled & has their eyes poked out & eaten by some rotten zombies, there's some blood splatter, a zombie dog & a gross zombie baby who has a face only a mother could love...
Technically this is good & has nice production values, it's well made & obviously had a fair amount of time spent on it as the period setting is well realised. The acting is alright but there are no 'names' in this one.
Haeckel's Tale is a good Masters of Horror episode, it's certainly one of the better ones & was an OK if somewhat premature way to end season 1. Definitely worth a watch for horror fans or fans of the series.
This Canadian American co-production was episode 12 from the generally hit-and-miss Masters of Horror TV series, Haeckel's Tale turned out the be the final screened episode after Takashi Miike's Imprint got pulled shortly before it was due to air. Originally to be directed by George A. Romero who strangely still gets a 'In Assaciation with' credit even though I'm not sure in what capacity he worked on it, if any. In the end John McNaughton got the job & he turns in a perfectly watchable Masters of Horror episode, it's not the best this series has to offer but it's far from the worst. The script by the show's regular producer Mick Garris was based on a short story by Clive Barker of the same name & you can definitely see Barker's perverse imagination dotted throughout Haeckel's Tale, sex with the dead, zombies, violence, gore, twisted revelations, good vs evil, the whole creation of life, what it means & various religious themes along with a general messed up approach to things. The storytelling here is quite good & I really liked the tale within a tale narrative & it's rather cool twist ending which I didn't see coming. However it's not all good news, I thought it dragged a little in places & isn't the most exciting of episodes either & around the scenes that obviously came from Barker's twisted imagination it's a tad dull.
Director McNaughton does alright although why was he chosen for a Masters of Horror episode when he had never made a horror film before except maybe Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986) & even that is more of a thriller than horror puzzles me, answers on a postcard please. This has a few stylish moments, I liked the period setting which made it feel like a Hammer film at times & there are some suitably creepy & nasty scenes in it. The gore doesn't really kick in until the final 10 minutes or so, there's a dead cut open body, someone is disembowelled & has their eyes poked out & eaten by some rotten zombies, there's some blood splatter, a zombie dog & a gross zombie baby who has a face only a mother could love...
Technically this is good & has nice production values, it's well made & obviously had a fair amount of time spent on it as the period setting is well realised. The acting is alright but there are no 'names' in this one.
Haeckel's Tale is a good Masters of Horror episode, it's certainly one of the better ones & was an OK if somewhat premature way to end season 1. Definitely worth a watch for horror fans or fans of the series.